The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Hydraulic bushings typically used in automobile suspensions are expected to damp low frequency large displacement oscillations as well as contribute to high frequency acoustic isolation from relatively small displacements. Hydraulic bushings typically have two hydraulic chambers connected by a channel. The resonance of the fluid in the channel creates a mass damper effect. A single piece intermediate tube is utilized in some designs to improve the durability of the bushing and to separate the working part of the elastomeric bushing where the loads are taken from the outer part of the elastomeric bushing where the channels are formed and the fluid sealing is provided for the fluid within the bushing.
Typically, the intermediate tube is only needed at the ends of the bushing and the center portion of the intermediate tube is used predominantly to provide an interconnection between the two end portions. The single piece intermediate tube is an expensive component that presents various difficulties during the assembly of the hydraulic bushing.